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OPINION PIECES


IACES
Feb 2, 20239 min read
Weaponising history for domestic political agendas - The case of the Western Balkans
The following piece is written by Ambassador Erwan Fouéré - Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Over the...


IACES
Jul 11, 20226 min read
Italy, Monti and Draghi: the case for skilled individual negotiators as catalysts for EU influence?
Marianna Lovato, University College Dublin Much like its men’s national football team – who won the 2020 European Championship only to be...


IACES
Apr 12, 20226 min read
Presidential debates and the evolution of French politics
By Dr Dónal Hassett, University College Cork With the field narrowed to two candidates, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and...


IACES
Mar 28, 20224 min read
Now is the time to put Wales on the constitutional front foot
Professor Laura McAllister is a Professor of Public Policy and the Governance of Wales at Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre...


IACES
Feb 10, 20225 min read
Sovereignty and Brexit: Irish pragmatism or UK obsoletism?
Mr Pól Ó Duibhir, a retired Principal Officer in the Department of Finance, had ongoing involvement with both EU and Northern Ireland...


IACES
Jan 30, 20225 min read
Europe against Europe: making sense of the intensity and diversity of European economic cooperation
By Prof Laurent Warlouzet, Sorbonne University Europe contre Europe (“Europe against Europe”) aims to make sense of the intensity and...


IACES
Dec 17, 20215 min read
The Serbian Mine Protests: Good for the Goose, but What About the Gander?
by Jelena Radaković, University College Dublin Last week saw large protests in Belgrade and other cities and towns across Serbia....


IACES
Nov 26, 20214 min read
What's happening in Wales, and why it matters in Ireland
Jonathan Evershed, University College Dublin On Monday 23 November, after months of negotiations following the Senedd (Welsh Parliament)...


IACES
Nov 2, 20214 min read
What is happening in Germany?
Dagmar Schiek, University College Cork What is happening in Germany after the elections? Where will the new government lead the country,...


IACES
Aug 17, 20214 min read
Relationships on these islands: the European Union peacebuilding experience
Giada Lagana, Cardiff University Anna Tulin-Brett, NUI Galway Darren Litter, Queen's University Belfast The post Second World War context...


IACES
Apr 26, 20216 min read
Support for the European Union in Ireland remains high, but there’s no room for complacency
Kathryn Simpson, Manchester Metropolitan University On Wednesday 21st April 2021, European Movement Ireland (EMI) launched their annual...


IACES
Feb 9, 20214 min read
Orbán’s Hungary: Illiberal Democracy and the EU
Robert Sata, Central European University Hungary has acquired international notoriety over recent years for leading the wave of...


IACES
Jan 26, 20216 min read
The three paradoxes of the EU’s peacebuilding strategy in Cyprus
Pierre Le Mouel, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne Following the failure of the 2004 United Nations (UN) led referendum, the entry of...


IACES
Nov 17, 20205 min read
Trump, Biden, Europe: Red America, Blue America and the Transatlantic Relationship
Andrew Cottey, University College Cork Barring the hopefully unlikely scenarios of an anti-democratic coup by Donald Trump or a...


IACES
Oct 27, 20204 min read
Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives
Giada Lagana, Cardiff University Over the past twenty years, Northern Ireland has achieved significant improvements in the economic life...


IACES
Sep 29, 20203 min read
The Art of Managing Brexit
Chris Clarke, The Glucksman As art museums and spaces across Ireland deal with the impact of COVID -19, it’s easy to forget about Brexit....


IACES
Aug 25, 20204 min read
Making Commissioners Accountable
Gavin Barrett, University College Dublin The ongoing controversy over EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan’s involvement in the ‘Golfgate’...


IACES
Aug 5, 20204 min read
Shared Island: the legacy of John Hume
Etain Tannam, Trinity College Dublin ‘The Border is not a line on the map. It is a mental border built on fear, prejudice and...


IACES
Apr 21, 20204 min read
How the EU might become a divisive issue for Ireland's next government
Mary C. Murphy, University College Cork Ireland’s 2020 general election was fought and won on a promise of change. Although domestic...

IACES
Mar 19, 20204 min read
Brexit, the Irish Border and Coronavirus
Jonathan Evershed, University College Cork As I write this, working from home at the tail end of a period of ‘self-isolation’, the Brexit...


IACES
Nov 1, 20196 min read
The State of the Nation
Piaras Mac Éinrí, University College Cork Official Ireland has been having a good Brexit war so far. Our nearest neighbour may be leaving...


IACES
Oct 21, 20193 min read
Ending the Criminalisation of the Catalan Political Crisis
Cira Palli, Ulster University Like everybody else in Catalonia, I got the news last Monday morning. The Spanish Supreme Court had ruled...


IACES
Oct 20, 20194 min read
Is the EU accession process ready for a change?
Jelena Radakovic, University College Dublin This week, all eyes were on Brussels as negotiating teams once again endeavoured to reach an...


IACES
Sep 18, 20195 min read
Framing Brexit, the Irish government and the shaping of the Backstop
Patrick Holden, University of Plymouth As the Brexit stand-off approaches its climax, the prospect of a Northern Ireland only backstop...
Anthony Costello
Dec 3, 201810 min read
‘A NEW IRELAND, A NEW EUROPE’
ADDRESS BY SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT MARY LOU MCDONALD TD, IRISH ASSOCIATION FOR CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES, TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, FRIDAY...


Anthony Costello
Nov 21, 20186 min read
Lessons Learnt from The Withdrawal Agreement.
Etain Tannam, Trinity College Dublin The announcement of the Withdrawal Agreement on November 13th was a momentous occasion, regardless...


Anthony Costello
Nov 20, 20184 min read
Understanding the present through the past: History within school curricula and political narratives
John O'Callaghan, St. Angela's College, Sligo When historians entered the bear pit of daily politics before the Brexit referendum to...


Anthony Costello
Nov 2, 20185 min read
Labour, ‘Lexit’ and European Integration
Patrick Holden, University of Plymouth All eyes are on Jeremy Corbyn at the moment as Theresa May’s travails continue. The Labour party...


Anthony Costello
Sep 28, 20185 min read
The Ghost at the Feast: The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly and the Brexit backstop
Jonathan Evershed, University College Cork It is difficult to conclude that the recent Salzburg summit of EU leaders was anything short...

Anthony Costello
Sep 13, 20186 min read
Myth and Narrative in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary
Michael Toomey, Reading University Since the victory of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party in the 2010 Parliamentary elections, much...


Anthony Costello
Aug 9, 20184 min read
Hard Brexit, No Deal and the Northern Ireland Backstop: What Next for Brexit Negotiations?
Kathryn Simpson Manchester Metropolitan University Brexit (still) means Brexit. Yet, the problem the UK Prime Minister Theresa May faces...

Anthony Costello
Jul 13, 20185 min read
Reality Bites? The Political Economy of May’s evolving Brexit policy
Patrick Holden, University of Plymouth The role of economic forces in shaping the UK’s Brexit policy seems to have been a classic case of...


Anthony Costello
Jul 3, 20187 min read
PESCO Goes Live: June 2018 European Council Decisions on Defence Collaboration
Amelia Hadfield, Director of European Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University and Christopher Logie, research analyst at the...

Anthony Costello
Jun 26, 20185 min read
Divisions within European Union continue to widen when it comes to migration and asylum policy
Aideen Elliott, Maynooth University Despite the fact that the number of people arriving in Europe to look for international protection...


Anthony Costello
Jun 19, 20185 min read
Brexit, Blazing Saddles and Borderlands
Gavin Barrett, University College Dublin Tony Blair once famously compared then British Prime Minister David Cameron’s badly...

Anthony Costello
Jun 13, 20188 min read
The European Union and the Western Balkans: Enlargement or Further Drift?
John O’Brennan, Maynooth University On Tuesday, 12 June, Greece and Macedonia announced a historic compromise in their decades-long...


IACES
May 9, 20184 min read
Brexit and the future of PEACE funding in Northern Ireland
Giada Lagana, NUI Galway For over 20 years, the EU has provided dedicated funding for cross-border programmes which support peace and...


IACES
May 8, 20184 min read
Why can-kicking isn’t going to solve Brexit
Simon Usherwood, University of Surrey & Deputy Director of the ESRC’s UK in a Changing Europe A recognised staple of any political...


IACES
Feb 19, 20184 min read
The Migration (Policy) Crisis hasn’t gone away
By Aideen Elliott, Maynooth University Since the summer of 2015 when the refugee and migration crisis was at its height, the European...


IACES
Jan 8, 20184 min read
Wake Up and Smell the ‘Brexino’?
By Janice Morphet, University College London How far have the events since the beginning of November, or perhaps since Theresa May’s...

IACES
Nov 8, 20176 min read
Ireland and the Marshall Plan: Reflections 70 years On
By Professor Bernadette Whelan, Associate Professor Emeritae, University of Limerick History, both domestic and international, is...


IACES
Apr 17, 20174 min read
Brexit may take centre-stage as the starting gun is fired in the UK general election
By John O’Brennan, Maynooth University The decision by UK Prime Minister Theresa May to ask the House of Commons to vote on whether to...


IACES
Apr 16, 20174 min read
Taoiseach addresses the Brexit challenge
By John O’Brennan, Maynooth University (Originally posted 16 February 2017) A week of domestic political turbulence in Ireland was...


IACES
Apr 14, 20174 min read
How MEPs Can Influence the Brexit Process
By Francis Jacobs, European Parliament (retired) and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, UCD (Originally published 14 April 2017) The...


IACES
Apr 14, 20174 min read
Irish Concerns Acknowledged in European Parliament Resolution on Brexit
By Francis Jacobs, European Parliament (retired) and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, UCD The European Parliament has now adopted its...


IACES
Apr 5, 20174 min read
France and Europe: A Frexit in the making?
By Emmanuelle Schon-Quinlivan, University College Cork (Originally Posted April 4th) Discussion of the the European Union (EU) typically...


IACES
Apr 3, 20174 min read
Fine Gael and Brexit: Putting the national interest first?
By Anthony Costello and Mary C. Murphy, University College Cork As Brexit looms ever closer, it brings with it the most profound...


IACES
Feb 5, 20174 min read
What ASEAN can learn from the Brexit vote
By Professor Philomena Murray, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne and Dr Laura Allison-Reumann, Nanyang...
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